Why build small sized web applications with Silex micro-framework?

This is the perfect time for new frameworks to evolve as developers are aware of its benefits and aggressively use it for their projects. The framework way of doing things has undoubtedly made the websites much easier to manage and a good framework makes a lot of difference to a customized work. The framework requirements for an e-commerce site are different from a site which is going to be a messaging platform or a directory. Different people meet different needs. This is why one need to really look into the matter and the features of different frameworks properly and decide about which will best suite their business requirements.

Nowadays, a large number of small and medium-sized businesses manage all their affairs with web applications. Web applications are accessible on all web browsers and hand-held devices like smart phones and tablets. With the birth of new technologies, it has become necessary and easy means to commute web applications that support business activities. Silex is a such a micro framework designed for PHP 5 and built on top of Symfony2 components. It provides an ideal environment for a simple, single file application. By installing and setting up Silex, one can create web applications with full dependency injection, templating and blending with other features that would expect of a modern day PHP framework would do.

There are two types of frameworks - full-stack framework and a micro framework, depending on how the application is build and how it is structured. Silex deals with specific code which is very less for building apps. Only small business apps can take more advantage of this new framework.

It was created by Fabien Potencier and Igor Wiedler. It creates wonder by building applications especially for smaller projects. It is easy setting up one can download the whole of it in one single file. Silex is small, modular and very easy and fun to program with. With the release of PHP 5.3, the language continues to evolve as a more secure server-side language, which customizes many modern web applications. Hosting environments are designed to help leverage PHP frameworks to accelerate the development process, with full support for model-view-controller (MVC) frameworks such as Symfony, Cake, Code Igniter and Silex.

PHP language continues to expand with its popularity, its object oriented focus with traits and easy syntax, helps in expanding its libraries to accelerate development and improving session security to safeguard data.

Top Reasons why to use Silex Framework:

• Interoperable Features: It has interoperable features such as platform independence, window support, cloud support, NoSQL support.

• Security Concern: One of the few basic advantages of using this framework includes the increase in security of the website. Web applications can be rendered on time and easy upgrading in the development process.

• Structured Code: Provides a structured code run from one place rather than anywhere in the filesystem, potentially easier for others to pick up. (After the initial learning curve), it contains decent amount of pre-existing bundle rather than re-inventing the wheel.

• Learning curve: One has to acclimatize with the behavior of the framework and its structure and understand the concept of a framework.

• Performance: A light-weight framework performs better than heavy framework like Symphony2.

• Planning: Planning things for the future is important. May be a light-weight framework like Silex will be enough for the time being but supporting the structure might become difficult in future. Need to plan how to use a framework in a constructive way.

• Extensible: It deals with configuration files which leverage Service Providers to add basic functionality.
  
  
• Easy to use: an application and a series of commands; you don't need anything more to get started.
• Stable: It leverages the Dependency Injection Container Pimple and the Synfony2 Console Component; which makes it easy to test any application.

The PHP developers can develop robust applications within a very short time frame using a variety of frameworks like Symfony, Slim, Silex, Zend and Aiki. And each framework allows to avail a set of benefits including code reuse, better session management and database access libraries. Life will be more organized, more efficient and saner if one utilizes best of these php application development frameworks.

We provide php development services. If you would like to discuss with a certified php developer from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.  

Top Reasons why Enterprise Level Application should be built in Symfony

Among so many popular PHP frameworks why should one choose Symfony? There are 101 reasons to choose Symfony. It is the latest framework used world over having some amazing features and great documentation which can help its users. It can speed up creating robust web applications. And can maintain and customize web apps really well. Most important is, it is open-source, free and its libraries deliver some of the best standardized set of job-specific tools, that can be used across many different projects. It follows (MVC) Model View Controller paradigm and avoids using repetitive tasks.

The Symfony has delivered best applications sufficing various needs of business and enterprise domains. It has built applications for various sectors such as community sectors, social networking sectors, content management, online auction, online invoice etc. It can be used as a free project management tool suitable for small to big size projects. It is fully configurable. Managing tasks, people, customers get easier in enterprise level applications. Some of the best and popular sites using this framework are Snippet, Steer CMS, Askeet, PlanCake, Limetracker, Yahoo bookmark, travel bug, w3counter.com etc.

This open source framework was born in 2005 and is the first unique framework to support the latest PHP version 5.3 to by has a huge community of users and contributors. More than 550 people contributed to the Symfony core and the community was over 1,600 bundles for the full-stack framework. It also has many annual dedicated conferences around the world and has a huge fan following user group.

Top Reasons to choose Sympony:

• Flexible Architecture: It enables developers to create superb and long-lasting web applications and web services in the easiest possible way. Empowered by MVC components, which enable this application to filter the logic from its defined user interface – in order to make the desired changes. In fact, testing also becomes easier and faster.

• Innovation: Symfony has everything one expects from a framework, it is flexible, got a good speed, reusable components, etc. Then a structure of what has been developed and uses of best practices.

• Useful: Since Sensio has developed a habit of shaking up the established order and is always striving for excellence, Symfony (and its entire community) has developed a sense of curiosity that goes well beyond PHP. And has some added features which has served the world of PHP in a different way, such as dependency injection from the Java world. It has a web debug toolbar which has helped programmers in a productive way.

• Interoperability: Build applications in a way to meet the best business needs, for this Symfony plays a big role. Symfony respects the existing standards of PHP: The PHPUnit, naming conventions for classes, etc. Furthermore, Symfony also allows to use certain of its software building blocks such as translation management, dependency injector, form management, etc. without necessarily using the framework in its entirety. It has interoperable features and uses external software building blocks like Swiftmailer.

• Reputation: Quickly adopted by technocrats active in this field following its launch in 2005, Symfony today gives stable environment that is both popular and recognized internationally. The number of its references have grown significantly since its launch. Symfony is also an active community driven; developers, integrators, users and other contributors who participate in the ongoing enrichment of this tool.

• Easier Maintenance: Symfony automatically has low performance overheads. Symfony development builds customized, robust applications for all kinds of enterprises, as well as enables developers full control over the configuration i.e. one can customize everything. Symfony have a collection of tools to help programmers to unit test, debug and document development process in order to match enterprise specifications.

• Resources: It builds robust applications in an enterprise context, thus provides developers full liberty to control over the configuration - right from directory structure to the foreign libraries everything. Symfony aims at shortening this time and also aims at automating common tasks so that the developer can focus on various specifications of the web applications.

• References: It renders applications for varied sectors such as intranets, public sites, community sites, social networks, management and workflow applications, etc. Examples hundreds of sites and applications of all sizes and of all types trust Symfony. Yahoo, Opensky.com, Dailymotion, have been supported by this framework .

Symfony is a well-organized and simple to use and learn framework. Written in PHP language, it is one of those PHP5 frameworks which has a good documentation support , number of useful plug-ins, updates, new release versions and much more. Symfony framework is also gaining popularity and recognition for its simple installation and stable performance in Windows and other systems.It supports databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Oracle. It even supports automated form validation and user input clearance for avoiding SQL injections and XSS attacks.

Resolving routine tasks of Symfony developers is quick with Symfony Development as it allows rapid web application development as well as web application management. It aims to build classic applications in an enterprise level, which means one can get total control over the configuration right from the directory structure to libraries and almost everything can be customized. Symfony is bundled with additional tools for development purpose, thus helping to test its applications. It can debug and document any project. By choosing this framework, one can get the benefit of an active open-source community. PHP web development teams can help you build projects within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide php development services. If you would like to discuss with a certified php developer from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Top Benefits of PHP Agavi Framework

PHP frameworks streamline the development of web applications written in PHP by providing MVC (Model View Controller) architecture. Where the Model refers to data, View to the presentation layer and Controller to the application or business logic, this makes coding in PHP faster and less complex, as each of them works separately without affecting other operations. A framework prompts a developer to write good code, adds structure to the code, and makes it more readable and maintainable. In addition, a framework makes programming easier, by converting complex operations into simple ones.

Today PHP frameworks play a major role in designing customized web applications by enhancing the general format of PHP coding for the development of web applications. The latest important news revolving around PHP forums is that it’s expanding the PHP frameworks, to cater the needs of web-based applications and their development gets easier. Additionally these frameworks allow web programmers to reuse the developed code and create a stabilized and dynamic web content, which is liked by all. Some of the important frameworks used these days are Agavi, Smarty PHP, Prado, Zend Framework, Symfony, Cake-PHP, Yii and Solar.

The main benefits of using a PHP framework are as follows:

• Code Re-use
• Saves time and effort
• Access to services API’s
• Community forums
• Easy plugin creation

Agavi is a new framework which helps programmers to write clean, maintainable and extensible code. It is the latest PHP5 web application framework started with the famous Mojavi project. This framework is a great way to save time and effort on software projects; the pre-built modules perform tedious coding tasks and open a great way to learn about good coding practice. Agavi produces full-fledged applications with the website construction kit.

This is an Open Source framework supporting some of the important features such as web services, internationalization and heavy focus on code modularity and reusability. It is search engine optimization friendly. Agavi methods solve application-specific problems such as maintaining customer databases and sending promotional emails to customers. Any application may be implemented entirely inside a single Model or across dozens of Models that represent various areas of software. Some Models act as wrappers for external libraries and even other applications or interfaces.

Benefits Agavi Framework

• State management: There are a lot of states in the web application process that needs to be maintained. Agavi framework makes life very easy for programmers by allowing them to manage and control the entire state of the application.

• Generalizing Queries: Without databases no web applications can be developed ever. With PostgreSQL, MySQL and SQLite any dynamic websites can be created apart from generating queries. This framework supports various databases.

• Form Handling: Agavi Framework can help in situations when some wrong data is entered in the form and the database displays an error. With its help the chances of errors get reduced as the framework will check everything and even the debugging of errors become simpler.

• Code generation: The entire data can be handled while creating a database. A code generator can be utilized for the database and the framework should create forms which are to be used for data entry.

• AJAX: It stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is not new but is one of the most desired web 2.0 powered websites. Usually it takes lot of time to write down the functions with AJAX but with the help of Agavi framework, the entire process becomes easier.

Developers get added benefits using this framework - it gives the ability to build complex websites quickly and easily. Repeated coding is avoided using this framework which has inbuilt core library, where coding gets lighter as compared to the traditional way of PHP coding. It has its own specific debugging methodologies such as Session and cookie Handling, Pagination, Form Validation, Input/output, Database Abstraction, , Email, Calendar etc. the Agavi framework offers the best built-in tools to make work easier, quicker and built securely.

With this framework, most of the work can be done automatically. 3rd party libraries are used all the time for every new project because most of them will come with the default framework install. It fixes things automatically using this modern framework which are great with dynamic loading, where they load code only as needed. Different page requests can be loaded with different amount of library code based on what needs to be used. Developers can have fun using this framework making life easy and deploy classy apps implementing cool new things with new customized features. And no doubt that Frameworks are cool and hot today, used for developing and deploying rich business applications. So why not take their advantage and meet best business needs. PHP application development teams can help you build projects within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide php development services. If you would like to discuss with a certified php developer from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Top 5 features which contribute to WOWness of Laravel Framework

Laravel Framework is a modern web application framework that designs customized web applications quickly and easily. It follows Model view controller which makes it more useful than PHP. It attempts to take the pain out of development by easing common tasks used in the majority of web projects, such as authentication, routing, sessions and caching. It has improvised web development experience in PHP by a ton.

This unique framework has grown big in just two years with latest versions. It has widespread good coding in all PHP projects. Laravel is probably the only framework that can make PHP code look very, beautiful and developers are enjoying using this easy framework. It has a unique architecture, where it is possible for developers to create their own infrastructure that is specifically designed for their application. This may be most beneficial to large projects such as content-management-systems.

Features of Lavarel Framework:

• Routing system: This framework takes an incredibly simple and easy-to-use approach to routing. Most beginner PHP developers aren’t familiar with anything other than the most natural of route systems. It brings more flexibility and control over which route is triggered on the application. A direactory is created to match any desired URI. For example, an index.php file is added to the following directory: blog/admin/ and now can be accessed by browsing to: localhost:8888/blog/admin/index.php. It allows to create links to named routes. While creating links just use the route's name and Laravel will automatically insert the correct URI. This allows to change routes at a later time and it will update all of the relevant links site-wide.

• Unit-Testing: It is an important part of Laravel framework. It runs hundreds of tests to ensure that new changes don't unexpectedly break anything. Laravel is widely considered to have some of the most stable releases in the industry as it is cautious of the known failures. Slowly it is being liked by the developers. It also makes it easy to write unit-tests for own code. One can then run tests with the "Artisan" command-line utility.

• View Composers: These are blocks of code that can be run when a view is loaded. A very good example of this would be a blog side-navigation where it contains a list of random blog posts. A composer would contain the logic to load the blog posts so that all one has to do is load the view. This keeps from having to make sure that controllers load a bunch of data from models for views that are unrelated to that method's page content.

• Application Logic: It can be implemented within any application either using controllers or directly into route declarations using syntax similar to the Sinatra framework. Laravel is designed with priviledges giving a developer the flexibility that they need to create everything from very small sites to massive enterprise applications.

• Automatic Pagination: It prevents application logic from being cluttered up with a bunch of pagination configuration. It gets the count of db records and selected data using a limit/offset called 'paginate' and interacts Laravel where to output the paging links in view. Laravel's pagination system was designed for programmers to make their work easier to implement and change. Laravel can handle these things automatically and makes tasks easier.

This framework has a unique architecture, where it is possible for developers to create their own infrastructure that is specifically designed for kind of application. This is most beneficial to large projects such as content-management-systems. It has a huge community more than 350 members active and helping each other out all the time and the framework itself is a piece of art.

Laravel helps to create wonderful applications using simple, expressive syntax. It is a promising framework and has a great and bright future ahead. It caters to the basic need of a web app with basic functionalities from a website, blog, huge amount of data processing, apis are used for importing and exporting data, mobile apps and rather a large web app all built at the same time – All of this is possible only with Lavarel, an awesome framework giving most classy and clean web apps. PHP development India teams can help you build projects within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide php application development services. If you would like to hire php programmers from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Top 5 Amazing Features of FuelPHP Framework

As technology is changing so the demand of new techniques are evolving in the web development field. Many PHP frameworks offering extensive designs with exclusive features that makes source code programming less complicated there by providing standard templates and plug-ins. Some of these PHP development frameworks have corporate communities who offer solid Web development support by providing best business standards. Code Igniter Kohana, Zend and FuelPHP are some of the most popular upcoming PHP frameworks, with merits and demerits depending on PHP requirements. Dan Horrigan created a FuelPHP framework in the year October 2010. It takes advantage of the bells and whistles of PHP 5.3+ and works like CodeIgniter.

FuelPHP is a new entry to the IT market this year. It is knocking Kohana off of the fourth spot. It is modular which means one can quickly “bolt” parts onto applications. The code compact, simple and slicker more than with Codeigniter. The framework follows (Model View Architecture) MVC architecture along with ViewModels (also known as presentation models) which were added to the mix which gives a powerful layer between the Controller and the View.

FuelPHP is a combo of CodeIgniter and Kohana. Its codebase covers lot of functionalities such as Caching, HMVC, Sesiions, Models, ActiveRecord, Cookies, Templating, Forms, Templating and many more. Has a cascading file system like Kohana framework. Additional functionalities can be added as packages. It is flexible enough in almost all components of the core framework and can be extended or replaced. Developers love to work on this framework because of its various customized features and many benefits it bestows upon its users. It provides an amazing structure usually in the customized version of CodeIgniter and takes advantages of PHP 5 version.

Top 5 Amazing Features of FuelPHP Framework

• Complete Flexibility – One of the many benefits of Fuel is that there are very few restrictions on how to write code. Classes can be in any file structure one wants, declare any folder as a “modules” folder, easily extend native classes and there are countless other examples of how Fuel lets one write code in their own way.

• Community Enthusiasm – Just like CodeIgniter framework, FuelPHP is huge community driven framework used for web development. Libraries and constant modifications were being developed and released, which helps to keep the framework moving forward when the core was moving at a slower pace before. Its structure helps to develop core, modules, and packages at an incredible quicker pace.

• Built in Modular structure –This is the reason why this framework is so popular among the developers and ranks FuelPHP in the first place. Fuel doesn’t force anyone into using modules or an HMVC file structure, but if one chooses to implement them the process is well documented and quite easy to integrate. Once apps are created in a modular structure fashion, it becomes easier for developers with clear benefits.

• ORM in the Core – This package gives a chance for one module in the new application and ended up using it for every module so far. It maps a model to each table in the database, assigns the fields of the table and their respective relationships to other tables. FuelPHP is small, fast and allows to develop web based applications very quickly. It is fully extendible and comes with built-in module and package support.

• Security – Out-of-the-box FuelPHP's Views will encode all output to make it secure and prevent XSS attacks. If one need to allow HTML through it can mark as safe or have it cleaned by the default included HTMLawed. This framework supports input filtering, CSRF prevention with tokens and the Query Builder which assists in preventing any SQL injection attacks. PHPSecLib offers several security features inside the framework. More about it has some customized security features such as SQL injection prevention, URI filtering, XSS filtering, Output encoding etc.

With over 20 million indexed domains using PHP frameworks, including major websites such as WordPress, Facebook, there are good reasons why many web developers prefer it to other server-side scripting languages, such as Python and Ruby. It normalizes web apps, assists productivity, reduces repetitive coding and creates more stable sites. Among so many frameworks one has to decide which would be the best to suit their business needs, as each of them has astounding features which deploys classic web applications.

We provide php application development services. If you would like to discuss with a certified php developer from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

PHP Web Development Comes With a Range of Advantages

Earlier, enterprises were interested in building websites to attract more customers. But within a few years, websites have become essential for all types of businesses. With each other business going online, website development has become complex, challenging and competitive. So, developers often look for innovative ways to design websites that are distinct, dynamic and interactive. At the same time, programmers also look for programming languages that enable them to build robust internet applications and websites at a rapid pace.

As a popular programming language, Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) is widely used by web developers across the world. As PHP is open source and free, it complement the requirements and budget of all types of projects. Also, the programming language is effective in boosting the performance and scalability of websites, as it does not pout a lot of strain on the web servers. The language also offers a set of advantages that complement all rapid web application development projects.

Top 6 Advantages of PHP Development

1. Open Source: The ongoing recessional phase of the economy is having a huge impact on website development cost. Most enterprises are looking for cost-efficient options to have an online presence. So many developers use open source programming languages to reduce the project cost. As PHP is an open source, it can be used by both independent and corporate developers. The language can be downloaded, distributed and used without incurring any expenses. Also, the programmer has option to edit, modify and update the source code to according to his specific requirements. The feature further makes PHP suitable for small enterprises who cannot afford the licensing cost of other languages.

2. Less Server Strain: Along with choosing the right look and feel for a website, the programmers also need to explore option to optimize its performance and scalability. Many web application developers also find it a daunting challenge to reduce the strain on server. The PHP web applications are effective in putting a less strain on the web servers. If the web application is large, it can handle high level of traffic and user requests in a comfortable way. The inbuilt memory of the language ensures that the server load is reduced, and the website is running without any interruptions.

3. Option to Use CMS: Most websites, nowadays, use a variety of content to keep the visitors engaged. So websites are designed with features to use content management system (CMS). Some of the most widely used CMS like WordPress and Joomla are designed using PHP and MySQL. So the CMS can be integrated seamlessly into a website. The integration will further contribute towards making the website more dynamic and interactive. As the language uses syntax similar to C and C++, a programmer can avail the help of a large community of developers to integrate the content management system.

4. Compatible with Major Operating Systems and Servers: While developing a website or web application, you need to ensure that it can run major operating systems and web servers. PHP is popular among programmers due to its compatibility with major operating systems like Windows, Linux and Mac. Many reports have highlighted that a PHP application can run seamlessly on more than 99% of web servers. The compatibility with most operating systems and servers help programmers in developing robust websites that can be accessed by users regardless of their choice of computing device.

5. Work with All Data Sources: The choice of database varies from one enterprise to another. Some businesses even store the data in a distributed environment. So the web application must be effective in supporting several databases. A PHP application works fine on database servers like MySQL. Further, the language is effective in managing data stored on a variety of databases. The efficient database management features makes the programming language to build web 2.0 applications and websites.

6. Using PHP Frameworks: Most developers use web application development frameworks to avoid writing longer code. While developing a PHP web application, they have options to use several frameworks. The frameworks are further design to take care of some regular functions like content management, member management, search function, and admin backend. Also, an enterprise can option to use PHP frameworks that are free and open source. So the frameworks can contribute towards reducing both project development time and cost.

The large community of PHP developers frequently updates the programming language to meet the latest trends in web application development. The frequent and significant updates make PHP the best programming language for rapid web application development.

We provide PHP Application development services. If you would like to hire php programmer from our 100% certified team of PHP developers, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions. 

5 Things You Should Check Now to Improve PHP Web Performance

As a powerful server side scripting language, PHP is used widely by developers across the world to build high traffic websites. In comparison to conventional scripting languages, PHP offers a set of innovative features that can easily optimize the performance of all types of web applications. But each programmer must understand various ways to boost the performance of his PHP application by reducing CPU usage, and network overhead. The simple practices will further help him in writing highly optimized code to deliver improved user experience. Some of these simple tips can also be incorporated in the PHP scripts without putting any extra time and effort.

5 Simple Ways to Optimize PHP Web Performance

1. Use Local Cache: Often the performance of a web application depends on the way it accesses the disk as well as network. As databases use both, you need to manage memory efficiently to reduce the load on disk and network. You can always use a distributed memory object caching system called as memcached that was developed for LiveJournal, a Perl-based blogging platform. You can even use memcached to boost the performance of your application designed with distributed data sources. However, you also have options to eliminate additional load associated with each user request by using a set of simpler caching techniques like storing the information in a temporary file or serializing the data. It is also a great idea to manage cache data in the memory by using shared memory helpers in the Alternative PHP Cache.

2. Avoid Using Error Suppression Operators: The way you use the error suppression operators will also have a huge impact on the performance of the PHP application. For instance, the slow nature of the @ operator can affect the performance of your code negatively by requiring more memory. Further, PHP automatically set the value of error_reporting to 0 before executing the suppressed statement. But it immediately reset the value of error_reporting according to your code. The time consuming process affects the website’s performance adversely. Also, you may find it difficult to identify the root cause of a performance related problem, despite using the error suppression operators. So you must use the operators properly to optimize the performance of the PHP application.

3. Check the Impact of Big Loops: Many programmers consider loops to be an integral part of all types of coding. So they often include loops in their code out of habit. Despite being a powerful coding tool, loops can always affect the performance of the web application adversely. If a single slow operation is executed once, it may not have a significant impact. But the bottleneck will be significant if the sentence is placed inside a loop. A developer must not stop using loops just because the bottlenecks. But he can always identify and fix the performance problems caused due to nested loops. Along with deciding how big the loop is, he also needs to explore, a programmer also need to explore options to cache the performance inside the loop.

4. Enhance Worker Connections for High Traffic Websites: Most web browsers are, nowadays, designed with features to open multiple sever connections at a time. The widely used browsers can easily open up to eight server connections simultaneously. As the multiple connections will remain alive at a time, you must explore options to reduce the number of connections per second. If you are designing a high traffic website, it is a good idea to restrict the number of connections that individual work process can maintain at a time using worker connections. Based on the nature of your PHP application, you can set the default number of worker_connections in the Nginx.conf file.

5. Use Absolute Path: You have option to refer to resources through their absolute or relative paths. The term absolute path is used to represent the full path. In comparison to relative path, use of absolute path can optimize the effect of your PHP code. Often a number of PHP operations like include and require face problem while working with relative paths. On the other hand, the absolute path can work seamlessly with all PHP functions and operations. Further, the use of absolute path will make it easier for the server to quickly resolve the path on its own. As the full path of a resource will make it easier for the server to locate the file, it can respond to user requests in a much better and faster way.

In addition to these simple steps, you can also consider following some the best practices recommended by PHP developers. Along with specifying character set in meta tag, and avoiding landing page redirects, you can further optimize the performance of the PHP application by minifying JavaScript and compressing resources. PHP web development teams can help you build projects within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide php development services. If you would like to hire php programmers from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.